Sunday, January 19, 2014

In Stillness:
Our Retrograde Winter 2014, I focused on the sky’s call for turning inward.
Big rewards will come to those willing to take cosmic direction about
self-reflection. This winter is about reassessing values, goals, and desires while
the personal planets do their retrograde stints.

Much action focuses on the I/Thou continuum with Venus
Retrograde and Mars Retrograde in Libra. How are your relationships going with
others? Then there’s the ultimate question when we’re talking about Libra,
how’s your relationship with yourself? One of the major Libran issues is to
lose yourself in others. Do you identify? Or are others losing themselves in
you?

One of my favorite New Age albums is Winter into Spring by George Winston. This year, it’s good to look ahead toward the next season, even
in the middle of winter. Begin to imagine snow melting and a gradual shift from
one emphasis and energetic to another, one that’s completely different. We’re
heading toward a Cardinal Grand Cross. Winter 2014 asks us to pause and
reconsider what’s important to us—what’s working and what’s not in our personal
lives. Spring 2014 emboldens us to take action in an even bigger way than the usual
Aries charge into the natural New Year, as the sap rises in the trees rises and
human energy starts picking up with it.

The Cardinal signs
of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn are the turning points that mark each new
season; therefore, they represent points of visible, discernible change. We
associate them with changes in weather. They are the markers for shifting
astrological weather, too. A Grand Cross consists of four squares joined at the
crossed oppositions where the bottoms of the triangles overlap. Planets in square
create a tension of initial incompatibility that nags to be worked out in some
way to bring a workable energetic mix to the person or situation it represents.
Better said, squares evoke creative
tension. It takes creativity—the God stuff, if you will—to find your way
out of the standoff. When the squares make a Grand Cross, you have to find your
way out of an enclosed box. Whew!

Let’s look at what each of the Cardinal signs calls us to do
in order to see how we can think “out of the box” to find our way beyond the
tensions and into the most creative manifestation of this opportunity to
evolve.

Aries asks us to
create. It’s our purest power of new ideas and actions. Cancer nurtures our creations. Libra
helps us involve others in whatever we design from art to work projects to human
relationships. Here’s where we learn that partnerships and sharing our
creations in an equitable way fosters peace on earth and beauty all around.
Finally, Capricorn helps us put our
creations into solid form, even to the point of leaving them as a legacy. These
are four noticeable stages of manifestation.

Before you apply this personally, time to consider the tight
way the Grand Cross clusters on the 13th degree of the Cardinal
Signs. In considering this Cardinal Grand Cross, let’s look at the Sabian symbols
on its four points. Sabians are read “one up” unless they’re 0 on the dot,
i.e., 02 Cancer 00 is 2 Cancer, but 02 Cancer 01 is 3 Cancer. Given that, we’d
look to the 14th Sabian degree, where the planets Mars, Jupiter,
Pluto and Uranus land on each of the points forming the Grand Cross in Cardinal
signs. The Sabian Symbols may provide some deeper insights.

These are the Sabians and planets involved:

Aries 14 (Uranus):
A Snake Coiling Next to a Man and Woman in an Embrace.

Cancer 14 (Jupiter):
An Old Man Faces a Dark Space to the Northeast

Libra 14 (Mars):
A Rich Landowner Takes an Afternoon Siesta

Capricorn 14 (Pluto):
A Mayan Bas Relief.

There’s a certain mystique involved in each of these
symbols.

Aries 14 conjures an image of the Garden of Eden and the snake,
tempting the Original Couple into “something more.” It reminds me of an episode
of Twilight Zone, where
things go on almost to the end of the hour, perfect and light. The story is about
an idyllic little town that’s like living in Happy Days with frosting. Only
at the end, you find out this place is actually Hell. Divine discontent and
human boredom are probably the age-old reasons for evolution itself, both
individually and as a species.

Cancer 14 is a man looking into the distance and the dark.
It’s the void from which all things are created and born in the symbolism of
the biblical Creation story. It may be a portrait of someone yearning to
manifest more—or at least opening to more creative possibilities.

Libra 14 is a man who has worked hard to create his
surroundings and is ready for rest, to return to the dream state where we
co-create with our subconscious. Many of our creative ideas and solutions come
from such downtime when our minds are on autopilot and our psychological needs
become characters in complex dream dramas to bring us information about what we
need to do or resolve in our lives.

Capricorn 14 involves a cultural artifact, perhaps digging
it up. It has something to do with what we leave behind and what that symbolic
object means.

From my free associations with the Garden of Eden, the
Creation story, dream time and cultural symbolism, these four symbols complement
the process of birth, nurturing, sharing and putting into solid form what we
create in the world that we see in the signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra and
Capricorn. They just further touch on the longing and natural need for
stimulation, creation and legacy that goes with the turf of co-invention with
All That Is.

You can delve deeper into the planets on each point and
their astrological meanings—how the expansion and worldview of Jupiter plays
in, the sudden insights or changes of Uranus, the passion and conflict of Mars,
and the call to let go and transform completely from Pluto. You can see where
these points fall in your own chart for another layer of insights.

I've heard that a Cardinal Grand Cross can make accomplishing goals challenging because we want to accomplish everything at once. This lack of focus often leads to achieving little for the "shotgun" approach. That's why we're so lucky to have a retrograde winter for sorting out where our spring energies need to be channeled.

Once focused from too many scatter shot goals, I envision the tensions of trying to do it all, represented in this Cardinal Grand Cross, as building to a creative explosion of new birth. It's much like the Big Bang "in the Beginning." Here’s
an invitation to make things simple. If you have planets in or near 10-16 degrees
of Cardinal signs, what you create, how you support your own creative
process—and how you share and make it permanent is up for an extreme makeover.

Don’t have planets close by? It doesn’t mean you don’t need
this reassessment and creative resurrection. You just may not feel it quite as
intensely or the tension quite as acutely. The call for creative overhaul is in
the sky and in the air.

What do I want to create in
the world and what do I want to leave behind?

These are the beginning and ending points of one big
question. As you do your winter retrograde contemplations, knowing that you are
building up to answer perhaps the largest question in life, it may help you get
more out of this winter’s review process.

Don’t forget to laugh and involve your inner child. Creation
is like a big Etch-a-Sketch.
Twist the dials, erase and start over. Play with it till you’re ready to do it
in ink.

* Note: The Grand
Cross will be in close orb over several days, often cited to peak on April 22.
Since most Radical Virgo readers are American, casting the chart at the US
Lunar Return the following day seemed the most significant date and chart to
choose, providing a sociopolitical context to whatever we’re experiencing
personally.

Want more on the Cardinal Grand Cross and mundane/world
events? Here are some articles you might find interesting as a start to explore:

Thursday, January 2, 2014

This winter’s sky has a number of retrogrades in process or
in store for us. Winter itself is a “retrograde season.” It asks us to go
indoors, inside ourselves, and to reconsider our direction, needs, and
desires—and, indeed, our life overall. Are we hitting the mark on what we want
and where we want to be headed? Winter starts with Capricorn. Cap sways to rhythm of Saturn, the planet that rules time itself.
Winter forces us to face: the sand keeps running in our hourglass. All those
questions about fulfillment are more poignant, indeed more urgent, when there’s
more sand on the bottom than the top.

So what does it mean when retrogrades are piled one on top
of another during a season with the same meaning as planets in retrograde? This
is a cosmic hint of mammoth proportions, a predicted snowstorm of reverse and
review activity, designed to send the wise person inside for shelter.

Now I understand why one of my fantasies is to be snowbound
in a New England cabin during a stormy winter (with my beloved, my cat, a big
fireplace and all the food and wood needed to be comfy). All my life I’ve been
trying to survive in an extroverted world when I’m actually an introvert. I’ve
touched on this topic in previous posts. Like any complementary pair, we’re a
blend of light and dark, yin and yang—introvert and extrovert. This winter in
particular asks us to explore our “innie,” whether or not it’s our normal modus
operandi. Even if you’re on the fence like me—I’d say I’m 51% intro- to 49%
extrovert—it’s important to honor both halves. It’s equally important to honor
your 10% innie, even if you’re a 90% outie. Denying any part of ourselves can
wreak havoc in our lives once the non-dominant side has had all it can take of
being ignored.

To that end, I recommend a book called Quiet by Susan Cain. It’s all about the introvert/extrovert
continuum, one I believe this winter begs us to explore—and to reap the
benefits of our introverted side, whether it’s dominant or recessive. Susan
Cain speaks to all the famous people who changed our lives because of their
innie orientation, just as you can change yours by honoring this side of
yourself. She coins the term ambivert for people like me—maybe you’re one,
too—the switch-hitters in life who can go to bat with either side of themselves
as the situation requires. The biggest thing the author does in this book is to
reclaim the positive aspects of introversion and why they are not to be ignored
(note from me--especially this winter). Bonus: The Kindle version is currently
only $2.99.

This Winter’s
Retrograde Reviews

Venus (21-Dec-13 to 31-Jan-14,
range 28-13 Capricorn)For Venus, review love and
money—partnerships. Also consider ambience, beauty—what surrounds and feeds
your sense of splendor—and what brings you peace and balance. If you’re not
getting what you need in any of these areas, time to readjust, reconsider and
renovate. What do you value?

Mercury (6-Feb to 28-Feb-13,
range 3 Pisces – 18 Aquarius)
How you think, communicate, do business, and make short trips are key
reconsiderations. This time is excellent for reviewing the books and finding
mistakes, and probably a good time to do tax prep to figure out what receipts
and data you might be missing while still having time to meet the US April 15
tax deadline. A perennial, even amusing question to ask yourself is, “What was
I thinking?” That applies especially to dilemmas that seem to overwhelm you.
You thought yourself into it; now’s the time to figure out how you can think
yourself out of it.

Mars (1 Mar – 19 May, 2013, range
27-9 Libra)For Mars, we get to review how we
do battle; harbor hurts, and generally “put ourselves out there.” Are we too
“yang,” too wimpy—too touchy or too unforgiving? When we don’t forgive, we’re
still keeping our sword sharpened for further injury to our perceived
wrong-doers, often long after they have forgotten the incident(s) that still have
us all fired up. The battles we do in our minds still affect others at an
energetic level and, especially, ourselves. Although it’s not an “exclusive,”
those who lick their wounds for way too long often have natal Mars in water
signs, combining the strong feeling nature of Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces with
the anger and wounding side of Mars. Water flows without end until it has a
container. If you’re in need of containing long-flowing hurts, now’s the time
for contemplating how. With Mars in the relationship sign, the emphasis is obvious.

Jupiter (6-Nov-13 to 6-Mar-14) To me, Jupiter Retrograde offers
an opportunity to learn that you don’t always expand or experience prosperity
or blessings by going after them. Sometimes, you just have to sit still and let
them come to you. While you’re quiet, contemplate how far you go to get what
you want and what it costs you. Are you miserly or too generous? Where is generosity to yourself
in the equation, if you’ve got a Santa Claus nature? Where are you with your
beliefs, spirituality and ongoing education? We live in Jupter-Sag-9th
House World now where you cannot thrive without being willing to become a
life-long learner. What don’t you know yet? What knowledge do you need acquire,
and where do you already have a PhD? Release tying up your energy for applying
it somewhere else you might have discovered needs attention during one of your
other planetary reviews. With Jupiter in Cancer, how family, home and hearth "make you more" is also up for review.

I’m just focusing on the winter retrogrades. Come spring and
summer 2014, there will be new ones: Pluto, Mercury (again), Neptune and
Uranus. See Café
Astrology for more dates and visuals. You’ll be better prepared, having
honed how you “retro” over winter.

Inner Winter
Practices

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could go into that winter
cabin I dream about for as long as we want or need to regroup? I had a dream
last night about two different, concurrent retreats, and it’s amusing in
retrospect to see how I managed to alternate staying at the two different
retreat sites, mixing and matching events and sleepovers, my Mercury in Libra
in full command of a dilemma.

In waking life, we’re lucky to get one retreat, much less
two—and the retreats we get are likely those mini-oases we create ourselves in
the bombardment of modern busyness. But create them we must for our sanity and
humanity.Getting back in touch with the
rhythms of nature is essential to our mental, spiritual and even physical
health. This is what winter is for, and it’s no coincidence that one of the
most beloved Christmas carols is Silent Night.

Ten Suggestions for a
Retro Winter

Here are some practical suggestions on what we can do to
unwind and regroup during Retro Times:

If you can afford it in time and money, book an
actual retreat. Consider not avoiding winter weather, tempting as it might be.
A cabin in the snowy mountains might be more conducive to inner time than a
beachside resort where cocktails and schmoozing are a constant temptation.
However, if you are like my dear introverted friend who has an extroverted
husband and hates the cold, she can sit for hours in Hawaii just staring at the
ocean.

Commit at least an hour a day in winter to
meditation, yoga and/or reading—more if you can make the time. End your day
with at least a half-hour of silence, if possible.

Sleep more to let your dreams and restorative
resting state do its magnificent healing work.

Read as much as possible, either “escape”
literature or stuff that feeds your soul. (I’m planning on finally finishing Quiet, myself.) Funny novels are a form
of re-creation, and spiritual literature can inspire you during this time of
contemplation. Reassessment does not preclude laughing—especially at yourself
and your human foibles. Nothing is more healing. Some may be fed by astrology
books; others may be fed by giving them a rest because of they are often highly
mental and abstract, not conducive to winter “letting.”

Tell people your plans for R&R so they don’t
expect your normal level of activity or communication. Most people will give
you your space, as long as they understand what’s going on—and they’re reassured
there’s nothing wrong between you.

Review any journals you keep and start one for
2014. If you have been too busy to journal, as I’ve been this year for the most
part, review your email conversations with your intimates for The Year That
Was. You’ll be amazed at what this practice reveals about where you’ve been and
where you want to head next. It’s so important, at least once a year, to view
your life from a bigger perspective than day-to-day living and coping.

Change what you drink. Avoid alcohol, coffee and
other stimulants in favor of herbal tea and decaf green tea. I thank Mma
Ramotswe, the No. 1 Lady Detective in the Alexander McCall Smith series, for
turning me onto Bush tea from Southern Africa. We know it here as red Rooibos
tea. I like Celestial Seasoning’s Madagascar
Vanilla Red, one of three rooibos teas they carry, but there are many
others excellent brands. Another standby, made for this time of year, is Tension
Tamer, also by Celestial Seasonings.

Change what you eat. Eat seasonally for winter.
Instead of focusing on a “diet” after the holiday overdo, listen to your body
and its needs. Eat lots of nourishing foods like lentils, soups and stews that
are warm and comforting for winter. Tune into when you’re full and what your
body craves. See recipe below for one of my winter faves, an immune-boosting
herbal chicken soup.

Spend time in quiet places like nature, churches,
cathedrals or synagogues, particularly when you can simply “be” in the silence.
These holy places--nature as much as any other-- have absorbed the breadth of life. In the case of religious buildings, they are infused with prayer and ritual vibrations from years of spiritual activity. They have an aura of peace and love. Light a candle, if appropriate. Say a
prayer for insight.

Set aside at least part of each day as a No Plan
Zone. During this hour, or whatever time you can spare or designate, do
whatever you feel like—what draws you. This following of your instincts will
lead you to any reassessments and reconsiderations you need, because you are
creating the space to let what’s important to you bubble up from your
subconscious.

Winter Immune Soup Recipe

Used for winter cold and flu prevention or
shortening, if you get a winter bug.

Stew chicken with seaweed and herbs in water 3-4 hours in large
pot or overnight in crockpot to create a broth

Remove bones (Use whole chickens, not deboned.The marrow from the chicken bones is one of
the immune-boosting ingredients in this soup.)

Add other seasonings and veggies.

Stew 1 hour or more to desired tenderness of vegetables.

* I
have found codonopsis root difficult to find in the Sacramento Area. The soup
is still immune-boosting without it. I have also successfully replaced it with
Echinacea in a tea infuser, but if you try it, be careful not to use too much
(2 Tbsp. max) or steep it too long, as it adds a more bitter taste.

I got this recipe from Judy Fuller, a dear
friend of decades and an amazing yoga teacher, bodyworker, herbalist and
healer.

Herbal HerbDisclaimer:
This article does not mean to imply any recommendation or certification of any
products or herbs mentioned. It is provided purely for informational purposes.
Please make your own determination about the quality and effectiveness of
herbal remedies, especially when considering them for very young children. This
article is not meant to constitute advice, nor is it meant to replace medical
treatment.

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